The Tiger's Mail Order Mate (Paranormal Shifter Romance) by Jade White

refilling Russell’s adrenal suppressing medication, she clicked the implant back onto its housing and wrapped the rough brown towel around her chest, covering her to her mid-thigh. 
     
    “Alright, let’s go find the showers.” She said as she opened the door to their room. 
     
    They were met by a full black ops tactical team aiming automatic machine guns at their heads. “See how kind I am?  I at least waited until you two were finished your little romp before taking you in.” A voice that was familiar to Russell spoke out.
     
    “What do you want, Bankes.” Russell barked.
    “Why, it’s time for you to come home, son.  You’ve been bewitched by this spy.  Compromised even. She wants to turn you against your own country for what?  A quick buck as a merc in the South Pacific? There has to be a reason why you chose to up and run away like that.”
     
    “I got tired of being treated like a monster.” He growled.  The light on his implant was blinking red again.  Sonja noticed this and decided not to do anything about it.
     
    “Excuse me, can I at least get dressed first?” she asked.  “I really don’t want to be dragged off to a black site without any clothes, it just wouldn’t be proper.”
     
    Colonel Bankes sighed and closed the door. “Just so you know, we have people at the window in case you try to jump out.  There really is no escape.”
     
    Sonja sighed as she pulled her grimy clothes back on.  “So much for a shower.” She quipped.  “I was rather looking forward to it.”
     
    “What, a gritty spy like you must go for weeks without bathing.” Russell said with a grin as he pulled his clothes on.
     
    “Doesn’t mean I have to like it. Anyway, let’s go off to this wonderful black site they have planned for us.”
     
    “How do you know that’s where we’re going?” Russell asked.
     
    Sonja rolled her eyes.  “There is no way either one of our governments will avow our existence.  We’re walking corpses right now unless we figure out how to get out of this.  They will torture us, well, at least me, until they get what they want, and then kill me.  I have no idea what they will do to you. Probably put a bullet between your eyes and dissect you for science, after they harvest you for all the genetic material they can get their hands on.”
     
    He sighed and fastened his pants.  He looked around and saw her stash the SD cards in one of the rails beneath the dingy beat up mattress.   “They’ll have to put me down if they kill you, you know that.”
     
    Sonja nodded sadly. “Once pair bonded, a splicer and handler relationship is for life.  Neither can survive without the other, you need me to keep you from getting stuck in your animal form, and I need you for the chemical you excrete, because I’m now chemically dependent.”
     
    Russell smirked sardonically. “Well, let’s get this over with.  I bet it was the Chinese informant that turned us in.”
     
    “If it was, it probably wasn’t entirely his choice.  He was a small guy so it wouldn’t take much to scare him.” Sonja replied as she opened the door.
     
    The sound of guns being raised and their safeties clicked off filled the room.  “Oh give it up.” Sonja said as she strutted out of the room towards Colonel Bankes.   “Alright Colonel, let’s get to that black site.  I don’t have all day.”
     
    Bankes smiled. “You really found a spirited one; I have to tell you, such a shame you didn’t go through the proper channels to do it.” He told the glaring Russell.  “Oh by the way, sedate him, so we don’t run into any complications.” He waved at the tactical team, one of which shot a pistol at Russell containing a powerful sedative.  The large, dark man crumpled to the ground instantly and was hefted up by two of the men in the black ops unit.
     
    Then the Colonel  grabbed Sonja by the arm and pulled it behind her, followed by the second one, and quickly applied a plastic